Belis Corona Sector
The Belis Corona Sector of the Milky Way Galaxy is a Sector of the Imperium of Man in the Segmentum Obscurus to the galactic north of Terra that is located adjacent to the vital Fortress World of Cadia. The Belis Corona Sector lies adjacent to the great Warp rift known as the Eye of Terror and was one of the locations where Abaddon the Despoiler's 13th Black Crusade was fought in 999.M41. The Imperium was able to largely hold at Belis Corona, the capital of the sector, suffering the worst excesses of a Tyranid splinter fleet of Hive Fleet Leviathan, and the horrific plagues bestowed upon the world's hive cities by the Death Guard Traitor Legion. The world of Subiaco Diablo within the sector saw the Convent of the Order of the Ermine Mantle hold out against overwhelming odds, before being relieved by a host of Adepta Sororitas' Sisters of Battle from across the region, their assault spearheaded by the celebrated Canoness Astra. History Belis Corona Sub-sector The Belis Corona Sub-sector is the most strategic and important part of the Belis Corona Sector, which is one of the Imperial sectors closest to the vitally important Fortress World of Cadia and the Cadian Gate. The Cadian Gate is the only predictably stable Warp route that leads out of the Eye of Terror and into the realm of the Imperium. Only a few hundred light years from Cadia, the Belis Corona sub-sector is one of those in the narrow gap that lies squarely between humanity and the rapacious host of Abaddon the Despoiler. With all the rising Chaos activity in the sub-sectors surrounding Cadia, prior to the 13th Black Crusade, is was only a matter of time before the Chaos Fleets of the Arch-enemy would make their presence known there as well. The Imperial Navy shipyards for the sector were located on the Forge World of Belis Corona. Belis Corona is a vitally important Imperial Dead World located in the Belis Corona Sub-sector which serves as the Segmentum Obscurus' primary base for the Imperial Navy's Battlefleet Obscurus as well as essentially the Imperium's administrative capital for the entire Segmentum. There is a vast conglomeration of orbital dockyards in geosynchronous orbit about Belis Corona where entire sector battlefleets can be serviced and refitted. Massive stockpiles of munitions, supplies and other war materiel are stored in armoured bunkers buried many kilometres below the planet's barren surface. 2nd Black Crusade As part of the 2nd Black Crusade launched in 597.M32, Abaddon wove a terrible hex upon a number of worlds close to the Eye of Terror, seeding them with the taint of the Dark Gods. Leading a small band of his elite warriors from the Black Legion, Abaddon breached the Imperial Navy base at Belis Corona. While his fleet launched a diversionary attack against the orbital shipyards, Abaddon and his Bringers of Despair, the strongest and most vicious members of the Black Legion's Terminator elite, landed on one of the system's outermost moons. Slaughtering the garrison, Abaddon crafted a complex sorcerous ritual using their mangled remains and invoking a curse that would sink deep into the core of the moon. Only centuries later would the curse awaken at the Despoiler's behest and do its terrible work, unleashing a mutagenic plague upon the Imperial defenders stationed there. By the time Battlefleet Corona had mustered to repel the attacks on the core worlds of the Belis Corona Sector, Abaddon had already departed, his mission complete. Shortly after the assault on the shipyards of Belis Corona, an attack occurred on the Inquisitorial vaults of the world of Nemesis Tessera. Hidden beneath layers of ice and snow, the Inquisition had constructed a watch station from which to study the Eye of Terror along with hexagramatically warded cells to hold daemonic prisoners. It remains unknown if this was the work of Abaddon, but in a swift and brutal assault, one of the cells deep beneath the station was opened and the daemon contained within was released. By the time Inquisitorial forces had secured the facility, the attackers were gone, leaving only a trail of smoking corpses and spent Bolt shells to mark their passage. 13th Black Crusade In 999.M41, war came without warning to the Belis Corona Sub-sector. It was only two months after word arrived that Cadia was engaged in a war for its very survival that contact with the picket stations in Phonosar were lost. Three weeks later the battered ''Victory''-class Battleship Warspite and two ''Cobra''-class Destroyers from the venerated escort squadron "Torchbearers" entered the system with a pitifully small handful of transports, the sole surviving remanants of a vast flotilla tasked with defending the system. Having faced a vastly superior force, the fleet fought a desperate series of running battles while a rearguard straggled to hold back the invaders, but in the end nothing could prevent the fall of the system. With Phonosaur lost, it would only be a matter of time before Chaos would attempt to take the Belis Corona sub-sector in its foul grip. In only scant weeks, rumours abounded that the dreaded Slayer of Worlds once again stalked the sea of stars, and later is was speculated that Abaddon's two befouled engines of destruction escorted by the twin ''Despoiler''-class Battleships Merciless Death and Fortress of Agony also once again had come to terrify the domains of men. It was only a matter of time before reinforcements and supplies coming to the system slowed to a trickle and then stopped, with nothing more in the way of explanation than a terse, pleading astropathic message fraught with horror. Cadia was under siege, and the long-dreaded 13th Black Crusade had begun. The opening moves by the Forces of Chaos saw large number of plague-ridden Space Hulks entering Imperial space. Though many were intercepted by the Space Marines and destroyed, some managed to escape the Astartes' attention. Some of these foul vessels of contagion found their way into the Belis Corona Sector, spreading their disease and pestilence amongst the masses throughout the sector. Along with the adjacent Agripinaa Sector, they were some of the first to bear witness to the rise of hordes of infectious, undead zombies that threatened billions of people on many of the Imperial worlds within the sector. This plague was later named the Curse of Unbelief. While the defence of the Cadian Gate from the Forces of Chaos continued to go badly upon the surface of many worlds in the Cadian System, in particular Saint Josmane's Hope and Solar Mariatus, the war in space was fought more on the Imperium's terms. The Cadian System had been the focus of Abaddon's primary fleet actions, and the Imperium's fortunes there changed from day to day. The situation was highly fluid and the Chaotic naval forces found themselves stretched to exploit the victories they had won. The inevitable sense of doom pervaded the worlds of the Belis Corona System, despite the Commissars' and military commanders' best attempts at maintaining the peoples' sagging morale. Laurentix was seized by riots in virtually all of its scattered mining settlements, and soon contact was lost with the world. Chaos Cults crying out to the End Times broke out on the Pleasure World of Belisimar, and it was all it could do for the Adeptus Arbites simply to maintain control. Despite these portents of doom, Belis Corona was not without its defences. It is home to vast orbital dockyards, decommissioned warship reserve fields and repair facilities that dwarf even those of Armageddon's St. Jowen's Dock in importance to the security of the Imperium. Due to its proximity to the Eye of Terror and its vital role in maintaining the fleets that guard the Cadian Gate, the system is guarded by a vast, integrated network of remote monitoring stations that orbit its sun just outside the orbit of blasted Malusoir. Under nearly constant solar bombardment, Malusoir circles its star in the shadow of the nearby Crown Belt, a dense cluster of asteroids noted for their high percentage of heavy, radioactive metals. Interference from the Belt created such a significant gap in the sensor network that the specialised monitoring station Adelphia was put in place to cover it. Holding a solar co-orbital position near Malusoir, it keeps a lonely vigil over the only sensor gap in the Belis Corona System, and the Mechanicus Adepts that maintain the station are the subject of routine visits by replenishment transports, system ships and the occasional Cruiser or Escort squadron on their way in or out of the system. As a Warp shadow fell over Subiaco Diablo System, indicating the imminent arrival of a vast Chaotic war host, terrified pleas for reinforcements were sent via garbled astropathic transmission to the fleet command at Belis Corona. More than forty vessels were mobilised and sent with great haste, leaving Belis Corona with only a reserve force of warships that was deemed sufficient to hold the well-defended system under the command of Admiral Guerrero Benedorn, an experienced and well-respected commander and veteran of the Curettes Pacification. When contact was lost with the scattered mining settlements on Laurentix, Admiral Benadorn directed an investigation be conducted with haste, and a party descending aboard the ore transporter Geniis Five reported that many of the settlements were abandoned without a trace of any of the personnel. Later, a survey team discovered grisly evidence of a coven of Chaos Cultists on Laurentix when investigating the disappearance of the entire population of Plainer, the largest mining settlement on the world. An urgent petition was sent by Astropaths for a Space Marine company to cleanse the world as critical preparations were undertaken to fortify the defence network of the system. The Imperium Gathers its Strength A fleet the size of which has not been seen since the end of the Gothic War eight standard centuries earlier had been dispatched from Cypra Mundi, and arrived at Belis Corona in preparation for a massive Imperial counter-offensive into the Cadian Gate. The arrival of this vast armada allowed those Imperial vessels that had been fighting continuously since the beginning of the invasion a brief respite. Severely depleted ship's companies were bolstered through indiscriminate press-ganging, and hasty repairs and refits were undertaken on those vessels most in need of them. Many warships at Belis Corona were interred as part of the reserve fleet or were undergoing extensive repairs and refitting, including the ''Retribution''-class Battleship Interdictor and the ''Victory''-class Battleship Warspite, and only a small handful of vessels could be mobilised and put underway quickly. Though it was certain that no fleet would attempt to break itself against the vast orbital defence network and densely seeded minefields of Belis Corona (itself capped by the Ramilies-class Starfort Shield of the Emperor), the Imperium could ill-afford the enemy to take the outer planets, sunder the sensor network and assemble a blockade akin to the one that nearly starved out heavily-defended Port Maw during the Gothic War. The Imperial reinforcements were split into battlegroups, each tasked with bolstering the defences in a specific sector of the Segmentum Obscurus. The regions around the Eye of Terror encompass many millions of cubic light years, and only by the concentrated application of resources in those areas in most desperate need could the Imperial Navy hope to make inroads and slow, stall, and eventually repel the Chaos warfleets plaguing the region. A small number of Imperial Navy starships won a decisive victory when they managed to hold back a larger Chaos Fleet at the Ilthirium Belt, buying time for Battlefleet Agripinaa to arrive and allow the remaining ships to retreat. This course of action however, left the Agripinaa Sector open to invasion and soon the worlds of this sector and the Belis Corona Sub-sector was transformed into nightmarish realms of plague and pestilence. Engaging the Arch-Enemy Admiral Guerroro Benadorn tasked Captain Johan Abearsen of the Lourdes Divina to lead Flotilla Malleus in a reconnaissance-in-force of the sensor grid. Having recently returned from action in the Elaysion Sector, the ''Dictator''-class Cruiser Lourdes Divina had only recently replenished the losses of its Attack Craft wing, and Captain Abearsen tasked his Master of Ordnance to keep his flight crews drilled on an exhaustive schedule as Belis Corona receded behind them, escorted by the newly-refitted ''Sword''-class Frigates of the 128th Escort Squadron, "Ghost Wing." Understrength with half of their complement still under repair, they nonetheless resolutely took screening positions as the flotilla was met by the ''Dauntless'' and ''Endeavour''-class Light Cruisers Macedon and Just Cause. The Macedon was a highly decorated vessel with a long history of valiant service, but the Just Cause was only recently re-commissioned after nearly a millennium of internment, and the flotilla had a lot of work ahead of it before it could effectively operate as a cohesive group. As Admiral Benedron aboard the venerable ''Mars''-class Battlecruiser Imperious took the rest of his fleet (codified Flotilla Incudis) to secure and fortify remote Bairsten Prime's duralium mining facilities on the other side of the system, Captain Abearsen led his flotilla to the one place the vast sensor network in the system was weakest, the Crown Belt and the vital orbital dock of Adelphia. Battle of Crown Belt While Admiral Benadorn's flotilla set a course at best speed toward Bairsten Prime in its far orbit opposite the sun, Flotilla Malleus quickly reached the Crown Belt and approached the Adelphia ''only to find a sizable Chaos raiding force as already racing inward. Convinced this was a feint, Benedorn instructed the flotilla to hold course, for while it was likely the enemy would seek to find or create a clandestine route into the inner system, they would be no match for the heavy defenses of the inner worlds, whereas Bairsten Prime orbited distantly from its sun, and even its closest approach was millions of kilometres outside the sensor network. Its duralium mines and processing facilities were not only critical to the war effort (it was imperative that their resources not fall into enemy hands) and its distance meant that any action against it would most certainly result in its loss before reinforcements could arrive unless a sizeable forces was ready in its place. He placed his faith in the Emperor, the easily defended position ''Adelphia held near the perilous Crown Belt and the dense minefields that surrounded the voidstation, as well the tactical skill of Flotilla Maelleus' commander. Admiral Benadorn instructed his astropaths to keep him personally appraised on the Crown Belt battle as it unfolded. Travelling at maximum speed, his fleet made excellent time and was only a few hours from Bairsten Prime, but the wide disparity in performance between the ships in his flotilla meant they were stretched out over hundreds of thousands of kilometres, and some of the ships in his flotilla had fallen almost an hour behind. To make matters worse, it appeared his hunch was correct, and a sizeable invasion fleet was settling itself upon the mining world. Though his fleet as larger, it was desperately out of position and only his flagship and a small covering force would be in position to repel the invaders until his reinforcements could arrive. It would be another forty-five minutes until the enemy fleet approached close enough to taste the metal and plasma of his guns. The Master of Ordnance reported Attack Craft prepped and ready to launch, and his Master of Gunnery already reported that the Nova Cannon was laid in and awaiting his order to fire. The news from his astropaths was not good. As Flotilla Malleus rushed forward between the Crown Belt and one of the minefields, to position itself to defend Adelphia, a squadron of ''Infidel''-class Raiders had rushed forward to launch salvoes of torpedoes straight into the perilous asteroid field. Sure enough, one of the asteroids went critical in a blinding torrent of heat and light that set fires raging on all decks of the Just Cause and eliminated the entire "Ghost Wing" Escort squadron outright. With the remaining elements of Flotilla Malleus and the Adelphia engaged in the fight of their lives, Admiral Benadorn took a moment to sit back and gaze around his expansive stateroom just aft of the main bridge. Many heroes had sat in this room, in the same old chair that sill stood before him and rested their eyes on the very bulkheads he did now. It was in this room that Compel Bast put together his strategy and led the victorious defence of Orar during the Gothic War. Here took place the meeting between the ship captains that held off the Ork hordes during the Second War for Laurentia. And it would be here, from this ship, that he would uphold the tradition of his forebears and repel the Chaos scum from this system. Battle of Crown Belt Historical Forces 'Imperial Flotilla Maellus' *''Lourdes Divina'' (''Dictator''-class Cruiser) *''Macedon'' (''Dauntless''-class Light Cruiser) *''Just Cause'' (''Endeavour''-class Light Cruiser) *'128th Escort Squadron "Ghost Wing" (3 [[Sword-class Frigate|''Sword-class Frigates]])' *'Orbital Dock Adelphia' 'Chaos Reconnaissance Force' *Chaos Eternus'' (''Acheron''-class Heavy Cruiser) *''Blood Scythes'' (''Devastation''-class Cruiser) *''Eternal Suffering'' (''Devastation''-class Cruiser *''Blood Singers'' (Raider Pack - 3 ''Infidel''-class Raiders and 1 ''Iconoclast''-class Destroyer) Defending Bairsten Prime As the fleets engaged, the Nova Cannon of Admiral Guerrero's flagship sang out its fierce war-song to score a telling hit against the Traitor Battleship Wage of Sin. The flagship of the Tributor Berephon, the hated vessel was no stranger to Segmentum Obscurus, and it bought him great satisfaction to visit a measure of the Emperor's mercy upon their hated foe. Calling up his lectern, the Admiral saw that Imperial reinforcements had arrived. The Emperor had smiled on them this day, and the fleet managed to arrive in force much earlier than expected, their numbers and position perfect for a devastating pincer movement that would trap the entire enemy fleet. No matter how it was looked upon, it could be nothing less than a decisive Imperial victory, and it would easily make up for the crushing defeat the Imperial Navy suffered at the Crown Belt. Despite the Navy's loss at the Belt, it managed to batter the enemy nearly into oblivion, with only the accursed Chaos Eternus remaining to deliver the Adelphia's killing blow. With this incursion fleet destroyed as well, the yards of Belis Corona would have the time to get enough warships into space to plug the sensor hole near Malusoir for good. As the fleets closed to join the battle, the Admiral pondered the significance of the Chaos Eternus' reappearance. Believed to be the only example of the Mechanicus project BF/67-A, rumours of the ''Acheron''-class Heavy Cruiser's reappearance had come to light several times following its supposedly confirmed destruction by Warp-Drive implosion after a concerted series of attacks and boarding actions by the Space Wolves several centuries after the Gothic War. Should it prove to be true, either the ship was not destroyed and still plied the stellar main, or even more disturbingly, the Traitor host had gained the ability to build more of those accursed vessels, a possibility not entirely out of the scope of an enemy capable of building the titanic Planet Killer. Suddenly the hololithic display changed radically as the red-glowing runes of enemy vessels began to scatter. The Chaos fleet had suddenly disengaged without warning. Even as the Imperial Navy officers shouted directions back and forth and the astropathic choir sent out the Admiral's demands, he knew it would be for naught. At their current range, their greater speed and acceleration would pull their fleet away without a single loss long before they would be able to get in range, and amid the nearby asteroids and dust clouds, their slow transports would all but disappear. Amid the tumult, Guerrero's astropath informed the commander that Laurentix was under attack. Admiral Beneadorn was aghast at the dire news. The invasion of Bairsten Prime was a ruse, and it succeeded in pulling half of the system's Battlefleet millions of kilometres out of position while their real objective was overrun virtually unopposed. He sent an urgent astropathic message for all reinforcements still en route to Bairsten Prime to come about and head at best speed towards Laurentix, and he hastily directed his vessels assembled above the planet to break orbit and push back in-system. Bairsten Prime Historical Fleet Lists 'Imperial ''Flotilla Incudis *Imperious (''Mars''-class Battlecruiser, flagship)' *Cardinal Demos'' (''Tyrant''-class Cruiser) *''Agamemnon'' (''Dauntless''-class Light Cruiser) 'Reserve Component' *''Steadfast'' (''Executor''-class Grand Cruiser) *''Achilles'' (''Dauntless''-class Light Cruiser) *''Ajax'' (''Dauntless''-class Light Cruiser, squadroned with the Achilles) *'125th Escort Squadron, "Torchbearers" (4 [[Cobra-class Destroyer|''Cobra-class Destroyers]] with retrofitted sensors, 2 ''Sword''-class Frigates)' *'122nd Escort Squadron, "Sons of Ogala" (3 ''Firestorm''-class Frigates, 3 ''Sword''-class Frigates)' *Interdictor'' (''Retribution''-class Battleship) *''Aegis'' (''Relentless''-class Cruiser) *''Excelsis Gloria'' (''Dictator''-class Cruiser) 'Chaos Invasion Fleet' *''Wage of Sin'' (''Desolator''-class Battleship) *''Insidious Horror'' (''Retaliator''-class Cruiser) *''Killfrenzy'' (''Slaughter''-class Cruiser) *''Dangerous Wind'' (''Devastation''-class Cruiser) *''Revolution'' (''Murder''-class Cruiser) *''Destructors'' (Raider Pack - 6 ''Infidel''-class Raiders) Defence of Laurentix Hanging in orbit amid the orbital defences and hastily sown minefields above Laurentix, Captain Cobrec Sorensen of the ''Victory''-class Battleship Warspite gazed into his hololithic display with grim anticipation. With Flotilla Incudis on the other side of the system, it would take them more than a week to reinforce Laurentix, and that would likely be several days too late. With Adelphia gone, the sensor hole made it impossible to determine the strength and numbers of the approaching Chaos Fleet, but the coruscating tendrils of light and impossible colour stretching hundreds of thousands of kilometres past the warp point indicated that the Renegade war host was vast. Captain Sorensen resolved to hold this world without Admiral Benadorn and his flotilla. This suited him just fine. Being in command of a Battleship, the next step in his career path was the sunburst and Aquila of an Admiral, with the vaunted badge of commander in charge of his own flotilla of warships. He activated the ship-wide Vox-caster and delivered a stirring speech to his vessel's crew. Should Malleus acquit itself well, he had no doubt his future would be bright, and then that blundering, arrogant son of klepseed farmers Benadorn would see who really was best qualified to lead a battle group. His speech elicited a silent, respectful nod of approval from Commissar Darin Fentress, who like the Captain, fully appreciated the stakes involved here. The tempo of chatter on the bridge suddenly raised excitedly as the Officer of the Watch approached the command pulpit. As he informed his Captain of the encroaching enemy fleet, the hololithic screen on the dais suddenly lit up with a blur of angry, crimson runes indicating the enemy fleet's position. With little more than a nod of acknowledgement, he directed the fleet to close formation and ready for battle. Deep within the bowels of the ship, the archaic weapons of unimaginable power hummed to life, and the Master of Gunnery personally supervised the loading of the awesome Nova Cannon as gangs of men numbering in the dozens opened the thirty-metre wide breech to accept the massive, multi-ton shell being trundled into place by more lash-motivated gangs pulling on an enormous overhead gantry under the careful eye of gunnery chiefs and Mechanicus adepts. The runes began updating and targeting information, and Captain Sorensen ordered the Master of Gunnery to sight on the largest target, which resolved itself to be the Treacherous, the accursed ''Desecrator''-class Battleship of Heinrich Bale, the infamous system-cracker and tactical genius responsible for the deaths of millions by starvation and dehydration with his ironclad, years-long blockade of the Port Maw system during the Gothic War. The Captain mused that he would achieve no such feat here, as he ordered his gunner to centre the Nova Cannon on the hated ship. With a mighty roar that shook the ship, the massive gravitic accelerators hurled the giant round torward the hated vessel as the fleet broke orbit to meet the foe. Rushing to the fore, the Genesis Chapter's Strike Cruisers Victorious and Unyielding under heavy gunship support engaged and grappled with the hated ''Devastation''-class Cruiser Deathbane, crippling it with a fierce series of boarding actions before breaking off. To the starboard side arrived the ''Endeavour''-class Light Cruiser Henderson and the "Torchbearers" escort squadron, the vanguard of Admiral Benadorn's fleet. Though the rest of his fleet was too far behind to affect the outcome of this battle, the supposed "second enemy fleet" alluded to by intelligence sources and astropathic tarot readers was nowhere to be found. In short order the mysteriously re-appearing Chaos Eternus was once again destroyed in a titanic Warp-Drive implosion that tore the fabric of nearby space, and the Treacherous was reportedly venting air into space across several decks. Amazingly, the "Ghost Wing," which until then had performed unremarkably in the series of battles for the system, suddenly pushed through a debris field near the planet unscathed and locked onto a transport convoy attempting to flank around the primary gun line heavily engaging the invasion force. In a mighty fusillade, four transports were destroyed outright, single-handedly turning the tide of battle. Soon afterward, the Chaos fleet turned to disengage, with the Warpsite's ravening lances serving to cripple the Teacherous before it could make good its escape. By the time the reinforcing Chaos fleet arrived on long-range sensors, the invasion fleet was in tatters, with only one Strike Cruiser and the "Torchbearers" Escort squadron taking crippling losses. Sorensen was unsurprised to see the reinforcing fleet turn away, refusing to engage. Laurentix Historical Fleet List 'Chaos Invasion Fleet' *''Treacherous'' (''Desecrator''-class Battleship) *''Raining Death'' (''Carnage''-class Cruiser) *''Deathbane'' (''Devastation''-class Cruiser) *''Chaos Eternus'' (''Acheron''-class Heavy Cruiser) *''Injustice'' (''Hades''-class Heavy Cruiser) *''Skull Breakers'' (Raider Pack - 4 ''Idolator''-class Raiders and 2 ''Iconoclast''-class Destroyers) 'Chaos Reserve Components' *''Wage of Sin'' (''Desolator''-class Battleship) *''Insidious Horror'' (''Retaliator''-class Cruiser) *''Killfrenzy'' (''Slaughter''-class Cruiser) *''Dangerous Wind'' (''Devastation''-class Cruiser) *''Revolution'' (''Murder''-class Cruiser) *'"Destructors" (6 [[Infidel-class Raider|''Infidel-class Raiders]])' *Heathen Promise'' (''Slaughter''-class Cruiser, additional shield generator, squadroned with Killfrenzy) 'Imperial Flotilla Malleus' *''Warpsite'' (''Victory''-class Battleship) *''Allegiance'' (''Armageddon''-class Battlecruiser) *''Unyielding'' (Space Marine Strike Cruiser, Genesis Chapter) *''Victorious'' (Space Marine Strike Cruiser, Genesis Chapter) 'Imperial Reserve Component' *'125th Escort Squadron, "Torchbearers" (4 [[Cobra-class Destroyer|''Cobra-class Destroyers]] retrofitted sensors, 2 ''Sword''-class Frigates)' *Henderson'' (''Endeavour''-class Light Cruiser) 'Planetary Defences' *'Monitor Squadron Excise (2 Defence Monitors, Orbital Weapons Battery Platform, 2 Minefields)' Battle of Belis Corona Admiral Benadron was ordered by the belis Corona Sector Command to retire to the Shield of the Emperor and command the defence of Belis Corona from a ''Ramilies''-class Starfort's vantage point. As the Admiral's pinnace approached the Starfort, he allowed the impressive display of massed Imperial might to calm his anxious thoughts. The relentless attacks by the foul Traitors had been swiftly leap-frogging from world to world, and though their attempts at invasion were so far unsuccessful, they had succeeded in wreaking havoc upon the support infrastructure of the entire system. Though the main force of Flotilla Incudis and Malleus was assembled here, at least as many warships were scattered throughout the system plugging the ever-increasing number of holes in the sensor net or scrying for some sign of the enemy's next objective. After an unrelenting tempo of operations, the foul Chaos minions had simply stopped, and for more than two weeks there was not a single reported sighting of Chaos movement or activity throughout the system. While it was a welcome respite that allowed the ships to conduct hasty repairs and the fleets to assemble into coordinated defensive formations, it was unlike Chaos simply to give up the initiative, though admittedly to attempt to understand the motives of the dark powers was to invite madness. The Admiral arrived to the bridge of the Starfort to a flurry of commotion, with the alarm klaxons of battle stations wailing seconds later. Captain Altus Cornelian, the harried commander of the battlefortress approached him and informed the Admiral they had located the enemy fleet. Without wasting time with idle pleasantries and standard protocols of assuming command, the Admiral approached the command pulpit. The fleet was bearing down on them at full speed and would be in range soon. A massive host it was, twelve capital ships, two of them Battleships, all escorting an object so vast it could only be one thing -- a Space Hulk. Battle of Belis Corona Historical Fleet List 'Planetary Defences' *''Shield Of The Emperor'' (Ramilies-class Starfort) *'Monitor Squadron Anvil' (3 Defence Monitors, 2 Orbital Weapons Battery Platforms, 1 Orbital Lance Platform and 2 Minefields) 'Imperial Battlefleet Incudis' *''Warpsite'' (''Victory''-class Battleship) *'128th Escort Squadron, "Ghost Wing"' *''Allegiance'' (''Armageddon''-class Battlecruiser) *''Henderson'' (''Endeavour''-class Light Cruiser) *''Unyielding'' (Space Marine Strike Cruiser, Genesis Chapter) *''Victorious'' (Space Marine Strike Cruiser, Genesis Chapter) *'125th Escort Squadron, "Torchbearers" (4 [[Cobra-class Destroyer|''Cobra-class Destroyers]] retrofitted sensors, 2 ''Sword''-class Frigates)' *Imperious'' (''Mars''-class Battlecruiser) *''Cardinal Demos'' (''Tyrant''-class Cruiser) *''Agamemnon'' (''Dauntless''-class Light Cruiser) *''Excelsis Gloria'' (''Dictator''-class Cruiser) *''Aegis'' (''Relentless''-class Cruiser) *''Steadfast'' (''Executor''-class Grand Cruiser) *''Achilles'' (''Dauntless''-class Light Cruiser) *''Ajax'' (''Dauntless''-class Light Cruiser) *'122nd Escort Squadron, "Sons of Ogala" (3 [[Firestorm-class Frigate|''Firestorm-class Frigates]], 3 ''Sword''-class Frigates)' *Interdictor'' (''Retribution''-class Battleship) 'Chaos Invasion Fleet' *''Desolation's Stronghold'' (Space Hulk) *''Treacherous'' (''Desecrator''-class Battleship) *''Raining Death'' (''Carnage''-class Cruiser) *''Deathbane'' (''Devastation''-class Cruiser) *''Desecrator'' (''Devastation''-class Cruiser squadroned with Deathbane) *''Injustice'' (''Hades''-class Heavy Cruiser) *'"Skull Breakers" (4 [[Idolator-class Raider|''Idolator-class Raiders]], 2 ''Iconoclast''-class Destroyer)' *Wage of Sin'' (''Desolator''-class Battleship) *''Insidious Horror'' (''Retaliator''-class Cruiser) *''Killfrenzy'' (''Slaughter''-class Cruiser) *''Heathen Promise'' (''Slaughter''-class Cruiser, additional shield generator, squadroned with Killfrenzy) *''Dangerous Wind'' (''Devastation''-class Cruiser) *''Revolution'' (''Murder''-class Cruiser) *'"Destructors" (Raider Pack - 6 [[Infidel-class Raider|''Infidel-class Raiders]])' *'"Blood Singers" (Raider Pack - 3 ''Infidel''-class Raiders, 3 ''Iconoclast''-class Destroyers)' *Canticle of Pain'' (''Repulsive''-class Grand Cruiser) 'Invasion Transports' *''Bird of Prey'' (Heavy Transport) *''Sirius'' (Heavy Transport, squadroned with Bird of Prey) *'"Lost Souls" (Transport Squadron - 3 transports, 2 armed freighters)' *'"Dark Light" (Transport Squadron - 2 fast clippers)' Defending the Cadian Gate Upon arriving at the Cadian Gate, the Doom Eagles Space Marine Chapter dispatched forces to a number of warzones, notably areas that had already suffered terribly at the hands of the Forces of Chaos. The largest of these detachments, under the command of Captain Luctus of the 3rd Company, was involved in operations within the Belis Corona Sub-sector, where the notoriously pious Chapter battled those who had fallen to the Curse of Unbelief. Only those without the strength of faith to resist were afflicted by the Zombie Plague, and it has been noted that not a single Doom Eagles Battle-Brother was affected by its blight. The Doom Eagles proved effective in combating the Plague Zombies infesting many worlds of the sub-sector, though, typically for this aloof Chapter, they had refused all offers of support in consolidating these successes. The Cadian Sector High Command was also briefed by the Ordo Xenos on a number of other factions which assailed Mankind as the Forces of Chaos battered at the doors of the Cadian Gate. The Inquisition warned the Cadian High Command to be alert for seemingly incongruous reports of alien infiltrations in the region near the Subiaco Diablo System, particularly for attacks coming up from below the galactic plane. They would not expound further on what they meant by this, but insisted that the Cadian High Command should inform the Inquisition immediately should any such attacks by unknown xenos materialise. Despite being beset on all sides, the Imperial forces and their commanders remained imbued with a sense of righteous indignation. If every damned creature in the galaxy was now ranged against them, then they were determined to take them all into oblivion with the last cry of the human race. The Imperial forces largely held at Belis Corona, the location of the greatest orbital shipyard of the Imperium, which suffered the worst excesses of a Tyranid splinter Hive Fleet, and the horrific plagues bestowed upon its hive cities by the Death Guard Traitor Legion. At the height of the invasion, something truly unexpected occurred. Defenders in the outlying star systems reported contact with Tyranid organisms -- at first individual vanguard-organisms such as Lictors, but soon entire broods of Genestealers and Hormagaunts. A splinter fleet of Hive Fleet Leviathan, a Tyranid fleet known to be attacking up through the galactic plane, was taking advantage of the mass destruction initialed by the Chaotic invasion to gain a foothold in strategically vital Imperial space. Faced with both the pestulant forces of the Death Guard, and the voracious hordes of Tyranids who were, unlike the human defenders, immune to the Plague God's blessings, the forces of the Imperium were hard-pressed to defend the vital worlds of the Belis Corona Sector. It was the intervention of the forces of the Eldar of the Ulthwé Craftworld and then the orbital bombardment of Laurentix that allowed the forces of the Imperium to fight back, despite the disastrous ambush of forward elements of Battlefleet Solar at the Bairsten Prime Warp jump point. Subiaco Diablo saw the Convent of the Order of the Ermine Mantle hold out against overwhelming odds, though at terrible cost, before being relieved by a host of Adepta Sororitas units drawn from across the region, thanks to the leadership of the renowned Canoness Astra. Locations Belis Corona Sub-Sector *'Belis Corona' - Dead World. Designation: IN45.554, Orbital Distance: 3.94AU, 0.76G, Temperature: 2C, Tithe Grade: Adeptus Non, Aestimare: K500. A vast conglomeration of orbital dockyards, this vital Imperial Navy facility orbits the Dead World of Belis Corona. Entire battlefleets can be serviced there and the munitions stockpiles are stored in armoured bunkers kilometres below the planet's barren surface. *'Subiaco Diablo' - Hive World. Subiaco Diablo was the first planet in the Belis Corona sector to come under the heel ot the forces of Disorder, as the Plague Marines of the Death Guard Traitor Legion unleashed their foulest contagions upon its populace. Soon, the shattered streets were home lo the unquiet dead, the Plague Zombies of Nurgle, reanimated victims of the Plague God's choicest gifts. Throughout the opening phase ot trie invasion, only the convent of the Order of the Ermine Mantle held out, though at terrible cost, against the shuffling hordes of undead. *'Phonosar' - Agri-World. Sources *''Battlefleet Gothic Magazine'' 16, "The War of Belis Corona," by Nate Montes, pp. 18-31 *''Black Legion: A Codex Chaos Space Marines Supplement'' (Digital Edition), pp. 31-32 *''Codex: Eye of Terror'' (3rd Edition), pp. 16, 25 *''Thirteenth Black Crusade'' (Sourcebook) by Andy Hoare es:Belis Corona Category:B Category:History Category:Imperial History Category:Imperium Category:Sector Category:Galaxy